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Man Re Tu Kahe Na - Mohammad Rafi

Mann Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare

This article is written by Mr. Anmol Singh

Mohd Rafi and Pradeep Kumar

This song has been rated as the best song by the Outlook survey some time back. What makes this song an all time great, perhaps the incredible lyrics written by Sahir or excellent delivery by Rafi or a great composition by Roshan. It is perhaps all the factors. Lets analyze the lyrics written by Sahir.

The song speaks of the philosophy of life, the very purpose of our coming in this world. Some thing which is very much applicable in the present era, where we are all very much running after materialistic gains at the cost of sacrificing our morals and ethics completely.

In this world every thing is temporary our friends, relatives and near & dear ones. They all play their roles and part away with time. The life which we live is like a dream, where nothing is permanent. We come alone and leave this world alone; no one comes along with us.

In other words the song indirectly gives a message "Only God is true, who is always there with us at every instant of life, even before our birth and after our death. We should detach ourselves from the worldly desires and praise the Almighty".

We all are indirectly or directly involved in worldly desires in some way or the other. At the end of the day if one listens to this song, it does provide a great amount of healing touch and brings tremendous peace of mind. It is indeed our conscience which reminds the very purpose of our existence at every instant.

This song is so well composed and sung with such a powerful expression, that it will have the same appeal even if one listens to it after one thousand years from now.

It is believed that Sahir was a non believer in Almighty, which has been proved incorrect through the incredible lyrics written by him. One can say Sahir understood the philosophy of life much better then any other writer.

If one listens to Rafi, its like God is speaking through him. Roshan uses only two main instruments the Saroodh and the Flute through Raag "Yaman", to create a lasting effect

32 Responses to "Mann Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare"

Very good article on an all-time classic. Since you've brought up the non-believer aspect of Sahir, let me also mention that there were quite a few great lyricists — mainly those belonging to IPTA — who fall in that category. These lyricists — poets to be more precise — were so talented that they could write on anything, even if they personally did not believe in that thing.

Adaab Rafi,Such a tremendous article written by Mr. Anmol Singh on the classic phillosophy of a human being "Man Re Tu Kaahe Na Dheer Dhare" that is the truth of a human. Who is just like a bubble of water after some time bubble crash. So try to do best work. That is not the voice of Rafi Sahib that is the voice of ALMIGHTY GOD who send the messenger i.e. Legendary Rafi Sahib, teach us to love with god.Thanks & Regards,Suresh Chauhan

Dear Anmolji – A very good article and a lot of insight into this philosophical song. So true too that just as we are born alone, we make that journey into the unknown alone too. We are such a small part of the cosmos, it is a frightening thought – unless we believe in a Supreme power that will be our comfort. and yes, the lyrics the music and Rafi Saab's eternal voice is like that comfort. And look at his smiling face, he has hardly ever been seen without that sweet and endearing smile. There is so much purity there, so much grace and goodness! All praise to the almighty for giving us this most precious gift. the voice of rafi saab.A small request : could any of the fans who write these very commendable articles about various songs of rafi saab please write about one of the two following songs

One of my all time favourites this is really an unparralleled masterpiece of a bhajan. supreme demonstration of the work and the quality of the artists that are no more like the phenomenon rafi sahib,sahir ludhanavi sahib and great music director roshan ji.WE really salute to all of them

to enhance ur knowledge this song has been declared as the best song of the century by the prestigious "INDIA TODAY MAGAZINE " in a poll conducted some two years back.

WIll comment more in future but busy now great work done by anmol ji also.

a very competent appreciation of the greatest song ever made anmol ji. credit goes to sahir for penning the great lines of the song, mana re tu kaahe na dheer dhare.

listening to two sahir songs, aana hai to aa and the current one, its felt that though sahir was a commie, he was a believer of the almighty – like many other commies around.long live sahir and his words,

a request to binuji.please make available the song ofmohamed rafi saab "oh duniya ke rakwaale" from hislive programme of london royal albert hall in this siteso as to enable all the rafians who dod not have achance to hear it.

What a great insight of the great song, specially the lyrics!!! You have done a tremendous job by not only translating the Sahir's lyrics into English, but during the process you have ease-out the meaning of lyrics to all of us. Many congratulations to you…

anmolji kya baat hai. ek anmol lekhani ek anmol nagme par. this is indeed one numero uno song by rafi sahab and is certainly one of the top 100 all time high songs from the hindi film world. great going, keep it up. and nasreenji, there is an earlier article on 'kahin bekhayal hokar' on this website, you will be interested to read the same.

thank you to both of you for directing me to the write up on this site by ms Binu re the song "kahin bekhayal ho ka". I am looking forward to reading it and enjoying the music again. Thank you very much indeed.

dear anmol singh jivery philloshophical write-up on a stand out song , one peice of anmol ratan. we became more devotional & pholloshophical whenever we listen to such songs in the voice of Rafi Saheb.

Thanks for the compliments. I was planning to write on this song since long.

In fact the credit goes to my spouse who has far better understanding of philosophy of life than me. What ever I have written is a result of discussions on many such aspects of life with her any her peers.

tks for a wonderful article on immortal song man reit will be of interest for all music lovers to know thatthis song is also the favourite of the great ameensayani . do i have to say any more on this songsundeep

Dear Anmol ji,yes you are right. Kishore kumar has sung 'Man re tu Kahe na' in many live concerts. Even one recording is available at youtube. See the link belowhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nd1_yG9k11wKishore Kumar has sung this song beautifully in his own style. Hope this will not induce any unnecessary comparison among the followers of the two.listening to this one can feel the kind of respect and love both shared.To add, i can cite one more incident, when kishore kumar won the filmfare award for best singer for the song 'Hazar Rahen Mud Ke', he prefered to sing on of Rafi number on stage. This was mentioned in one of the earlier issue of filmfare although i could not remember the issue.

Great article. My only disagreement in the translation : "Praise the Almighty" is purely an interpretation by the author (even though they think it is being implied indirectly). I dont think Sahir is implying that. One doesnt have to believe in God (even though I do) to realize the meaning of the song. I think Sahir would be disappointed if we translated it to imply he was implying the concept of God etc. The song is more about controlling ones mind which it makes very unique.

Ref. post 18,Dear Mr. Rijesh,Many thanks for providing great information and youtube link of Kishore Kumar singing the great song.

Ref. post 19,Dear Mr. Antar Jaal,Yes! I agree with you. But this is the beauty of great poetry that readers extract different meanings of it according to their views and thoughts; like there are many meanings exist for most of Ghalib's verses. So this is acceptable and the great work is done by the article writer.

Thanks for the compliments. Possibly you are refering to Film fare awards ceremony of 1980, the year Rafi Sahab passed away.

Kishore may be thinking that the award may go to Rafi, since there where 3 nominations of Rafi and 2 of Kishore. Possibly it might have come as a surprise to him, which made him sing a Rafi number on stage.

People from different cultures have different ways of interpreting or looking at things for the same subject. Perhaps God could be replaced with nature or kudrat here. Or one could say that meditate and look inside you instead of looking around towards the materilistic worldly things.

In order words no interpretation is incorrect as such, all are right in their own respect.

(in favour of writer to Antar Jal,ji),,,,,knowing our limitations,I agree with u some extent that we ought be literal to what is said,,,,,everything added further would be an interpretation,,,,very few only understand what Sahir ji would have meant,exactly,,,n so whatever even u say that what sahir would not have meant is also an interpretation by ur side too,,as a poem,so philosophical like man re has so many meanings beyond literal statements,,,,Its like" o my Mind know contentment as ur abode,hence its called to have dheer, know the uncertainity of this world like shadow,,,don't try to catch such mundane things,as everything is distined to go in nothingness""!!!!,,Mr Jal what else is Indian darshans are other than these words,these words r given in every paragraph of Bhagwata Gita to veda,upanishad or parsi or sufi songs,,there r many similar Bhajans implied to mann,n some of them sung by Rafi sahab as well,,,,,,,,,,even yet if u don't agree with Idea of God in this song,,,,what else do we mean when we say ,,just remove the darkness,,,,,removing the darkness simply mean bringing the light even if the word light is used or not,,and last stanza,,,Janam maran ka sang hai sapna,,,ye sapna bisra de,,,,,,here it simply states about something beyond life death,hence,,when we say about quiting uncertainity,,idea of certainty comes not indirectly as writer stated for rational readers,,but rather directly as both r same,,,,and I don't know about other part of Globe,,,but in India Idea of God on the other side of idolatory is just something thats certain,,or forever,,,,,even in Islam,,mohammad paegambar Saab's given 100 names of god,,,,has many meaning that directly applies to all the virtues of world stated for god without taking names of demigods,,so god is also the qualities not only image,,,,,n this song deal with quality,,so,,if mann will leave everything what would it rest upon then?????,I can't understand if poet like shair Ludhyianwi ji is asking mann to rest on nothingness,,,,,its surly implying on Idea of God,,,,,that for every one has its special meaning,,may be God is Mind for some,,heart for others,,Intellect for one,,love for other,,but Idea of God is directly present everywhere in the song,,,and prove is rafi sahab's divotional approch with a divine voice in the song,,,,,,,,Rafi sahab voice is having Shelter on God in this song I can say it because I've heard other sahir -rafi(saab) songs,,in which Rafi sahab sing being atheist or non biliever,,,the song Is,,,,Jinhe naaz hai hind pe kahan hai,,,,ye duniya agar mil bhi jaye n later jala do,,,,,,,n also songs like ji kadta is dunyia no main hans kad thokad,,n also,,,haye re duniya,,n,,,etc,,,,but in this song mann re rafi sahab voice is imbibed in bhakti but for rational thinker I would use the word purity of supreme faith,,,,,,

P.s…I never meant to state u wrong Mr Anatarjal ji,,,,I rather respect u for ur intelligent approch of looking at things,,I just presented my side of understanding thats really negligible in compare to u n others ,,sory n..thank you!

Let's agree to disagree. I dont claim to be a deep thinker or a philosopher so I am probably being a little simplistic (but then again I feel keeping life simple is one of the secrets to happiness). After reading your response, I feel I need to read the Gita more carefully . It is obvious to me you are a deep thinker and I enjoyed reading your response (though I didnt get it all due to my limitations).

I agree the beauty of poetry is that one can apply their own interpretation. I was just pointing out that there wasn't any "praise the almighty or higher being" in any part of the song. I feel the song is reassuring us to appreciate that the good is within and emphasizing how one needs control their expectations and emotions.

But I am mere simple minded mortal….what do I know . Thought provoking article and discussion for sure !

let me greet all of you and say that we are lucky to have lived in these times when we can truly cherish and enjoy mohd rafi saaheb's songs.

it's really bliss and let's all take forward the magic – to the next generation of music lovers.

there were hundreds of programmes and events by rafi lovers in all parts of the world. in kerala's calicut city there were four music events in homage to rafi saaheb.rice, sugar and sweets were distributed to the poor by rafi lovers in vapi, gujrat, in kerala and other places.in mumbai city about twenty programmes were held and mohd rafi remembered.most notable point was that youngsters and children sang rafi songs.

in short, people listen rafi saaheb from the hearts in large numbers. they do not have to depend on the "biased" tv channels .

Mr. Binu Nair has rightly said in his post 29 about "biased TV channels". I did not see any program on any major Indian channel about Rafi Sahab on his anniversary and not heard about any one too. How strange is that the most successful and loveable singer is totally ignored by them? If they think that Lata or Kishore are the best singers of Indian movies – OK; they have the right to think so. But they admit anyway that Rafi Sahab remained the king uptill 1970, so why they are ignoring the singer who was (according to their views) undoubtedly the best singer till 1970. This shows that the media is really biased and projected other singers as compared to the true and only legend of all times: Rafi Sahab.

However, a big surprise (to me as well) is that a Pakistani TV channel "Geo" telecasted a beautiful documentary on our beloved singer on his death anniversary. It was a very nice, informative and well picturised documentary. I was unable to see that documentary, as I was on my job; but thankfully to the Geo team that they placed that program on youtube. It is in three parts and a must see for all Rafi Lovers. Following are the addresses of these parts.

Dear Mr Binu NairRefer post 29-I fully agree with you-not only the TV media, even the print media is still biased. I reside in Pune and found that there was not a single mention about Rafi on 31st July or after that, whereas KK's birth anniversary was covered on three days in popular English newspapers. This shows a very clear bias and that is the reason why we Rafi fans sometimes get upset with such bias. Of course it is another matter that Rafi sahab himself never bothered about such publicity and hence we also should learn to ignore these.

Our old faithful Vividh Bharati did full justice on 31st July with beautiful songs of Rafi sahab throughout the day-special thanks to them.

_DrEaM_IF-Rockerz

Rafisaab great as always but yes here Sahir is to be praised for sure.

Life used to be simple and full of happiness when materialistic things were not essential in our lives, when we just fulfill simple needs of life and live on, when just praying to god is all we need for a happy day, when going to temple is most comfortable place, when eating a meal given by god is the most lucky thing....Yet...Time runs and changes are constant....so are our thoughts, needs and this world....during the development from simplicity to materialistic life...surely we would say our life is more convenient with the technology yet we forget how we used to live without computers, mp3 players, tvs...we used to play with neighbours, with nature and we were close to god's creation....

Being materialistic...we somehow did go far away from god but that does not mean we do not believe in him or do not love him but we tend not to express it and believing in god seems to be done in necessary conditions only...that is when we are in sorrow we pray and ask him to be with us....when we are happy and leading a good life we do not bother to remember him....now god indeed is asking...can you be by my side my child...when i am always ready to be with you why you distant yourself ....sometimes when people are afraid to die it can indeed be interpreted as they are afraid to be with god but then it's true....when you are about to die no one can help you....only god help you by bringing you to his side....

this song can surely let us relax and think about what do we really want from life? luxury? comfort? or to be blessed by our very own god?

thanks again summer...do not know what i wrote but hope i said nothing offensive or wrong...

Summer3IF-Stunnerz

Rafisaab great as always but yes here Sahir is to be praised for sure.

Life used to be simple and full of happiness when materialistic things were not essential in our lives, when we just fulfill simple needs of life and live on, when just praying to god is all we need for a happy day, when going to temple is most comfortable place, when eating a meal given by god is the most lucky thing....Yet...Time runs and changes are constant....so are our thoughts, needs and this world....during the development from simplicity to materialistic life...surely we would say our life is more convenient with the technology yet we forget how we used to live without computers, mp3 players, tvs...we used to play with neighbours, with nature and we were close to god's creation....

Being materialistic...we somehow did go far away from god but that does not mean we do not believe in him or do not love him but we tend not to express it and believing in god seems to be done in necessary conditions only...that is when we are in sorrow we pray and ask him to be with us....when we are happy and leading a good life we do not bother to remember him....now god indeed is asking...can you be by my side my child...when i am always ready to be with you why you distant yourself ....sometimes when people are afraid to die it can indeed be interpreted as they are afraid to be with god but then it's true....when you are about to die no one can help you....only god help you by bringing you to his side....

this song can surely let us relax and think about what do we really want from life? luxury? comfort? or to be blessed by our very own god?

thanks again summer...do not know what i wrote but hope i said nothing offensive or wrong...

Yes constantly the struggle between the mind, the body and the soul goes on. In the end only the soul remains. The pure mind merges in the soul and becomes one.

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